


Unexpectedly entangled

by sapphirehynbn



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Bodyswap, Changbin admiring Hyunjin's lips, M/M, Minor Han Jisung | Han/Lee Minho | Lee Know, Mutual Pining, POV Alternating, Strangers to Friends to Lovers, baker!hyunjin, prince!changbin, third fic and i still have no idea how to tag, why is that not a tag
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-27
Updated: 2021-01-10
Packaged: 2021-03-10 20:28:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 10,131
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28363170
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sapphirehynbn/pseuds/sapphirehynbn
Summary: Hyunjin would never have thought that he would be able to make his childhood dream of staying in the palace a reality and Changbin never thought that he would find himself to work as a professional baker, but here they are, entangled in some sort of game by the universe with none of them knowing how or why.All they have to do now is play the game with their respective characters with a single goal, finish it as soon as possible. No other goals in their mind. Simple as that.But maybe, the universe had other things planned out at them, along the way.orHyunjin woke up as Prince Changbin and Changbin woke up as Hyunjin the baker one day.Together they try to find out why and how to break free from the condition whilst simultaneously trying to not mess each other's life in the process.And not fall in love with each other, definitely.
Relationships: Hwang Hyunjin/Seo Changbin
Comments: 12
Kudos: 37
Collections: SKZ Secret Santa 2020





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Raiken](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Raiken/gifts).



> this fic is written for SKZ Secret Santa 2020 :D thank you to the mods for being patient with my loud ass hehe check them out on twt! ( https://twitter.com/stayfanevents )  
> also to Avi, my beta :D bro u know how much i love u rite 
> 
> also for my dear friend and author that I truly adore, Ruby, this one is for you ! Sorry for being late T^T  
> This fall short to all masterpieces you've created, but I hope it's 'ok' enough ;--; please do check out her fics, too! promise you won't regret it :D
> 
> all in all, enjoy your stay !

Hyunjin was always the one whose eyes trained to the palace ever since he was little. Every Sunday in the church were spent with his hands clasped tightly as his mouth mumbled prayers so he could one day live there.

He wasn’t entirely sure when his obsession with the palace started, but certainly being one with a face that could simply took away everyone's breath, his existence almost resembling one to a star in his village, it wasn't rare that he heard a lot of other villagers saying that his beauty matched one of a kingdom's prince. Maybe that was how it all started, the idea of him becoming a prince and lived at the kingdom’s fanciest estate.

Little Hyunjin wasn't one to hate the attention he had, as he bathed himself on their daily compliments and treats he could get if he pulled out his puppy eyes to the market vendors. One could say that it was manipulative, but the villagers loved his face, and he was just a kid that wanted a lot of things that the villagers could give to him, so it was a win-win situation. The villagers couldn't give him the place in the palace, however, so little Hyunjin would always wonder if one day he would be able to live there. The far distance of his village from the palace and his age that was deemed too little to travel to the city never gave Hyunjin a chance to actually go there, but even with the limited (and probably exaggerated) stories from his parents and the villagers, he still found himself drawn there, as if the place was calling for him.

He mentioned it once when he was five years old to his mother as she tucked him to bed, "I want to live in the palace."

The flickering light from the candle had illuminated his mother's smile, "Yeah, I heard about your prayers at church today, baby. You're not that quiet today." She giggled as she brushed the fringe out of his face, patting his head softly.

Hyunjin's cheeks reddened when he found out that his prayers that were meant only for God and his to be heard were known by his mother, but her next words piqued his curiosity a lot more, "Maybe one day you will live there, might the king have any daughter. I'm sure everyone would've fallen in love with you and your charm for the first time."

His brows furrowed, "What will happen if the king has a son?" confusion etched on his face, his brain struggling to figure out why. "Why couldn't I marry him?"

Hyunjin's mother halted her movements, her eyes widened and her smile slightly falling as she was caught off guard by his question. She halted it a beat too long for Hyunjin that he was starting to think if he had said a wrong thing, but then her smile returned and her patting resumed.

"You are still too young to understand it, perhaps." His mother kissed his forehead before staring into his eyes, and he failed to see nothing but genuine love oozing from them. "But one day, if you decide to love someone, you're free to love and marry anyone you want, Hyunjin."

"Anyone?" Hyunjin asked, his voice small but hopeful.

"Yeah, anyone." She assured him, kissing him again on the forehead before blowing the candle on the side of his bed, leaving his room illuminated by nothing but the moon's soft, pale glow. "Good night, my moon."

Hyunjin hummed contently at his favourite nickname, watching her as she left his room only to stop before his door. His eyelids already felt heavy and he was barely awake, the darkness of the room lulled him quickly into sleep when she looked back at his son, a teasing smile on her face. "The king has a son, too."

He didn't notice the implication behind her words then, but the conversation that they both shared that night left a deep print on his memory.

Especially now, thirteen years later as he held his mother's hand, watching the life seeped out of her along with the sparkle on her eyes. His grip onto her was strong, like as if he held it strong enough, he might've been able to stop Death from claiming his beloved mother. But when he saw that the smile on her face remained still, and her grip slowly weakened with her moving lips, silently mouthing something to him, Hyunjin realized that loving someone means that he should be ready to let them go as well.

"I love you, and thank you for everything." He had whispered, his face wet from all his tears and snots, however he willed himself to smile for the last time, hoping that it would settle her heart at the end. "I am letting you go now."

She had succumbed into a disease that the doctor couldn't figure out what it was. He remembered tracing the curved letters of his mother's tombstone, the memory of her saying that he was free to love anyone he wants circled around his brain. Hyunjin's lips twitched into a smile as he recalled that his mother was implying that he could marry the prince if he really wanted to live in the palace, and as good as it sounded, Hyunjin has bigger responsibility on his back now that she was gone.

He figured that his old dream should stay as nothing mere but a childhood dream, buried deep on the back of his mind with the only reason as to why he ever wanted to look at it was just to reminiscing the past.

* * *

Two years after his mother's death, Hyunjin has grown into an attractive young man. Traces of his baby fats were now gone, his facial structure got more prominent and his gaze sharper instead of soft. He was still the star of his village, his appereance still as captivating to those who had laid their eyes on him. It wasn't a rare occasion that he got marriage proposals, from daughter's fathers or (this was done far more secretly, though) from men, whether they were his age or older.

He had always politely turned them down, though. Hyunjin always reasoned that he was still too young and he needed to work hard for his own self before thinking about anything else, especially love and marriage. But the truth was he just couldn’t find the reason as to why he needed both in the first place.

After his mother's death, he was taken by his uncle and aunt who owned a large bakery at the village. They never asked him to work at the bakery, but Hyunjin felt that he owed them that much to at least try and help a little in exchange for them taking care of him. It began with Hyunjin being the cashier or making sure that the bread was lined properly on the rack, along with his cousin, Yeji who took small roles in the kitchen and sometimes helped him when the bakery was busy.

Soon enough, he found himself getting taught the basics of baking by Yeji so they could exchange their roles easily if needed, and yet unexpectedly, he found himself getting attracted and soon, fell in love with the art of baking.

By the time he was twenty years old, his aunt and uncle had entrusted him the bakery, making Hyunjin the head of the kitchen along with Yeji as the head of customer services (which is an irony, considering their roles were exchanged in their early days). He was a skilled baker with an amazing eye of art in decoration, his creations never disappointing those who ordered them, and Yeji was quick on her feet, always tentative at giving their customers services and making sure every single complaint was heard. Combined with their breathtaking looks, it wasn’t a surprise that Hwang bakery had become the talk of the city, reaching even the ears of those in the palace.

When the first order of a cake from the palace arrived, Hyunjin had both of his eyes widened and jaw dropped, his mind seemed like it was out of this world as he was reminded once again of his old dream before Yeji called him out on it. He spent the whole night planning and designing about the cake, coming to work first thing in the morning with purple bags below his eyes and determination to make a perfect cake.

The bakery took a day off then as he wanted to make sure nothing was missed from his eyes from making his cake fluffy, the cream wasn’t too sweet or bland, and the decoration wasn’t overwhelming nor underwhelming. It took him a lot of tries to perfect it that he basically skipped lunch that day. When Yeji was called to the kitchen after he was done, however, she was met with a smiling Hyunjin who immediately shoved a slice of a cake he had perfected to her mouth. 

Yeji’s eyes were blown wide as she chewed the cake slowly, savoring the soft buttercream and cake in her mouth. “This is …. Amazing.” She swallowed, her wide smile mirroring one of her cousin’s. “When they order again, which I’m sure they will, you should really make two cakes so we could always share some slices with others!” 

And so, that was the reason why everytime the palace ordered cakes from them (Yeji’s words were proven true), he would always make two, one for the palace and another so they could share it with their friends. It happened for quite some time, they would be receiving orders from the palace for each month and they would make it, until a specific note arrived on their mail, stating how the prince has taken a huge liking to their cakes and would like the bakery to deliver it to him every two weeks.

They would still get their monthly orders from the palace, it was just that the prince wanted his own, every two weeks. He had stated that it would be fine if they were to reject his personal offer, as he noticed that it might burden them more. Yeji had groaned from the imagination of the large amount of workload they would get because of their rising popularity (they had become a lot busier with their first successful order from the palace, as their orders multiplied, coming from all parts of the kingdom) and she was more than willing to decline the prince’s offer, but Hyunjin was more determined than ever to give the prince what he wanted.

“Why do you really want to give the prince what he wants? He said he’s okay and he understands if we couldn’t take it!”

“This is the prince, for gods sake!” He countered, rolling his eyes. “Who knows what good it will do to us if we could handle it? Maybe we could both be the official baker of the palace, we never know.”

Yeji stared at him for a while before sighing, “This is not about your old dream of living in the palace, right?”

Hyunjin waved her off, “No, of course not. It’s just a childhood dream, anyways.”

“Then surely,” There was a playful smirk on Yeji’s lips, her eyebrow raised questioningly. “This is really not about prince changbin as well, right?”

Right. Prince Changbin, the king’s only son. Hyunjin remembered learning about his name when he went to first grade as they were told to remember the royal family’s name. It was just a name for a prince for him before he hit puberty, his hormones telling him that Changbin was undeniably attractive with his cold, almost intimidating gaze whenever Hyunjin saw his pictures in the newspaper. It was harder to mask his attractiveness at him because he finally understood the meaning behind his mother’s words, then.

And so, Hyunjin had a crush on the prince. _But so what?_ He had reasoned himself, _so does almost all the population that has eyes._ It was nothing more than just a silly, teenager crush, he had also said to himself, it’s just a phase and it will pass.

“Of course not, you dummy.” Hyunjin said, scoffing slightly, but with Hyunjin’s slightly red face and an even redder ear, he didn't even feel convinced about his own words.

* * *

"The Prince's cake should be delivered today." Yeji was writing their specific order on the small paper that was soon pinned to the wooden board in the kitchen. She sighed before turning to Hyunjin who was too occupied on pouring the flour into the mixing bowl, his eyes focused as he added two egg yolks to the mixture. "I said--"

"I heard you the first time." Hyunjin replied, eyes never leaving the mixing bowl before darting to find a whisk. "It'll be finished before noon, think you can handle other cakes before that?"

Yeji shook her head, lips turned down into a frown. "It's Friday, there will be way too many people in the bakery when it opens and I won't have time to help in the kitchen." She took her black apron that was hung carelessly behind the door before wearing it. "I could help you until before the bakery opens, but I already asked Minho to help you afterwards."

That halted Hyunjin's movements. He looked back at her, an incredulous expression on his face as his jaw hung open. "Minho would tease me too much about making the cake for the prince that he won't be helpful!"

"You know he's going to be helpful either way. You just can't handle his teasing." His cousin rolled her eyes before pulling out a pan of croissants from the oven. She smiled upon smelling the smell of butter from it, a sign that Hyunjin has yet made another set of perfect pastries again. "Just focus on making the cake, I promise he'll help you finish your job."

Hyunjin huffed, clearly not favouring her decision but rolling with it nonetheless. Minho, after all, was one talented baker as well. He was the one that worked in the kitchen when Hyunjin was still working as a cashier there, and he was someone that helped teaching him the secrets of baking pastries. It was only when Hyunjin became much better at his job that he resigned, claiming he's been wanting to do that for a while but was worried about someone that could take his place. Minho had said that he had other interests in mind, but refused to tell the Hwang family about it as he deemed himself that he wasn't ready yet.

When Hyunjin was walking to Minho's house that was situated near the woods to give him a try to some of his new recipes, it somehow didn't faze him that he found his friend in the middle of reciting a spell to a jar of golden liquid. He waited for Minho to finish with folded arms and an amused smile before saying, "Please don't tell me that it’s someone’s piss that you're using."

His sentence earned him a glare from the other man, but Hyunjin was quick to show him the pastries he brought so he wouldn't get mad. In the middle of eating them, aside from Minho giving insights about his new recipes, he also told Hyunjin how he found out that one of his ancestors was a witch and he felt a huge urge to follow her footsteps. Hyunjin wouldn't blame him, he too had the same urge when he was faced with baking for the very first time as well. It just felt right, like it was your calling to do that.

Like his calling for the palace that he used to feel when he was a kid, but he didn’t say anything regarding that.

"So, witchcraft, then? cool." Hyunjin shrugged, shoving his last bite of donut before noticing another pair of sandals on the terrace of Minho's house. "Wait, you don’t live alone anymore? And you didn't tell me? Do you have a boyfriend now? Holy shit dude you literally didn't tell me anything? I really thought we're friends here. " He had his hand in front of his chest, feigning hurt.

Hyunjin swore that Minho's ear was reddening, but of course the latter refused to acknowledge that. The elder scoffed, "Stop worrying about my life and start working on your sad crush on the prince instead."

"It's not a crush!" The denial came out too quickly for Hyunjin to defend himself, and it had Minho's eyes twinkling in amusement. "Why is this suddenly about me? You're the one that has an actual boyfriend!"

"Stop saying that he's my boyfriend when you don't know anything about him or else I'll throw this pee liquid in your face." Minho was being playful, Hyunjin could tell, but it was still shocking to hear his last sentence. His brows crunched in disgust as he made a show of fake gagging, his mouth agape,

"So it really is a piss!!"

* * *

Hyunjin had managed to get the final version of the dough after two failed attempts when Minho came into the bakery, Yeji immediately tossed her apron to him and bolted out of the kitchen to open the shop. Even with him concentrating on his dough, Hyunjin could still feel Minho’s piercing gaze at him and when he glanced up, he found the elder looking at him with a teasing smile on his face. Hyunjin rolled his eyes, expecting a witty statement and was not slightly disappointed when Minho delivered it.

“You seem too happy to be baking a cake for the prince today?” He snickered, folding his hands in front of his chest as he watched Hyunjin amusedly. "Still not going to admit your undying crush of him?"

If Hyunjin could roll his eyes loudly, he would've done it right away. "If all you've done today is to just tease me, I surely don't need your help."

Minho shrugged, but walked to Hyunjin's side to knead some dough that Yeji hasn't finished on doing anyways. "Meh, Yeji was pretty desperate about it. Saying you're too focused on your goals of living at the palace that you're willing to sacrifice her work load instead."

A sigh escaped Hyunjin's lips at that, but he was way too tired to explain himself again. Partly because he still has some cake to bake, and partly because it was entirely false.

Except if Minho pointed out his efforts to impress the prince, then there would be some truth in that statement. But he didn't, so he refused to say anything further as well.

Minho was exceptionally quiet today (he was thankful of it) and they both fell to the silent, almost rhythmical pattern of working. There was only one time when Minho asked him to help with the icing of the cupcakes that he left his cakes for the prince and Minho asked him about the two bowls of the same dough he prepared for it.

"Yeji told me to share the prince's cake with everyone, so we decided to always make two batches of it." He replied, seemingly caught off guard with Minho's slightly widened eyes. "What?"

"I scooped a bit of it and it was really tasty." But before Hyunjin could scold him for that, he continued. "You should eat it yourself."

"Huh?"

"It was really, really good. I’ll go as far as saying that it’s one of your best cakes you’ve ever baked.” He paused a bit, looking back at the dough for a while. His lips curled up into a smirk, “As a witch, trust me when I say that you should eat this one yourself. Take it as a witch’s suggestion, and you know when a witch suggests something it’s because they know better than you are.”

Hyunjin wanted to erase that smug expression out of Minho’s face, probably by throwing him a sack of flour, but decided against it. Minho has always been weird like that, and he had another thought of ignoring his statement, but somehow he felt it within himself that it was one hell of a good cake as well. Maybe he felt like he deserved to eat something that was only served for a prince, too. Maybe he has been constraining himself from voicing out his opinion because he wasn’t sure if it was selfish for him to do so, but he couldn’t lie that he has been thinking about it for a while.

That, and the “witch suggestion” kind of messed up with his head.

“I’ll talk to Yeji about it.” Hearing this, Hyunjin looked up to see him smiling, softly now. “She won’t mind, i’m sure about it.”

Hyunjin silently nodded and they fell into a complete silence save from a few laughters from the children playing beside the bakery. It was nearing afternoon then, the winter sun radiating muted yellow rays through the kitchen window. It wasn’t supposed to be an emotional moment, but to Hyunjin whose feelings were easily swayed, it kinda was. There was no way he was going to thank Minho for that, though. 

“Alright, only because you said it has something to do with your witch sense or something.” He sighed, “Now help me with these and don’t touch the prince’s dough again.”

The time was nearing 11 pm when Hyunjin wrote about his day in his journal, adding a bit of Minho’s suggestion as a doodle on the top left side of the page. He stared at the half-eaten cake beside him before shoving another slice into his mouth, relishing on the sweet, refreshing sour flavor of lemon cream in his mouth along with the soft texture of the vanilla flavoured cake. Minho was right, it was easily one of his best. It was a bit shocking to him at first when Yeji wasn’t a bit surprised and was rather accommodating. After Minho told her that he advised Hyunjin to eat it, his cousin merely nodded in understanding, patting him on the shoulder with a smile on her face. 

“You know you could just tell me if you want it to yourself, right?” She had told him before they went to their separate rooms for the night. “Like, no hard feelings involved. You’re the one that made it, anyway. I feel bad now because i was the one that suggested you share it with everyone.”

Hyunjin was quick to reassure her that it was okay, and he would be back to make the cake for everyone when the next order drops. She didn’t seem to be convinced, but she let the issue go immediately, smiling before telling him good night.

_It was more than just a cake_ , Hyunjin had thought. It was the connection that the cake had with the palace, knowing that the very own prince was eating the same thing as he was. Maybe it served as a burst of pride and giddiness that fed into his crush towards the prince, but Hyunjin felt like it was more of a rush of overwhelming feeling like he had something that linked him to the palace. 

He was reminded of his old childhood dream, and he wondered if one day he would be able to make it come true. And his remembrance about that dream would always result in the fleeting thoughts of his mother, too.

Hyunjin finished the last slice of the cake, willed himself not to cry over the sudden longing that he has over his mother, his childhood, and over his old dream. 

* * *

He was jolted awake with a sudden light flowing through the window, along with some rustling on the curtains and a creak of the window being opened. Hyunjin yawned loudly, stretching out his body before curling back into the blanket (was his blanket really that fluffy?) ignoring the interruptions that were currently happening. It wasn’t before the name that was obviously not his was repeatedly mentioned inside the room that reality slowly dawned upon him.

Hyunjin had always woken up on his own. Certainly never got his windows opened before by anyone else.

Hyunjin woke up immediately, sitting up on his overly plush bed, that he figured out wasn’t his because there was no way he was able to afford it. He forced out his blurry vision to focus on the environment around him, finding a totally different layout to his own room staring right at him. The room he was in was adorned in a luxurious setting, the pattern of soft blue and gold mixing together in every part of the furniture, especially on the curtain of the four poster bed he was sitting on.

There was a wide window in front of him, a soft glow of the sun illuminating the room as he scanned his surroundings before stopping to held his scream as he found an old woman he has never seen before standing beside his bed, her uniform and long hair tied into a bun indicating that she was a maid. It seemed that Hyunjin couldn’t mask his bewildered expression as the maid seemed to be mirroring his, her eyebrows scrunched in worry as she approached him.

“Your majesty? Is everything alright?” Hyunjin knew that he was a man with a strong imagination, and that his head wasn’t exactly working correctly first thing in the morning, but he could totally know that this woman wasn’t joking the slightest.

He also knew that this wasn’t part of his imagination at all.

Hyunjin hoped his voice wasn't as shaky as a result of his beating heart. “Y-your majesty?”

The old woman appeared to be a lot more disappointed rather than confused, and he found himself wondering if that was a good sign or not. “Yes, your majesty.” The woman sighed before reciting what it seemed to be something she was told to remember multiple times. “The first in line for the throne of the kingdom, the one and only son of his majesty king Seo,”

Hyunjin's eyes widened, not letting her finish. “Prince Seo Changbin.” He said it instead, the name so foreign yet so familiar in his tongue.

“Yeah, your majesty.” The maid merely nodded, unsure. “Is everything truly okay? You seemed to be on edge this morning, and considering that today’s the day you’re going to be meeting the people to share the winter stock of foods, I think that it will be a big problem later. We can’t let the people see you being confused and not being in your element.”

Hyunjin’s head was spinning, his mind racking for questions and answers. There was a harsh pounding in his skull and he felt sick to the stomach, his breath wavering as he tried his best to regain his breathing. The whole world felt crumbling into pieces, but he willed himself to breathe slowly.

Maybe if he was calm enough, he’d realize that this was one of his most realistic lucid dreams, and he would wake up to his room just above the bakery, ready to start out his day to bake again. Maybe if he let his eyes flutter shut, he would find everything to be nothing but a fragment of his imagination as there’s simply no way he just woke up and found himself on the prince’s bed, being mistaken as the prince himself.

Hyunjin wanted to believe that, but when he opened his eyes and still got the same room as his surroundings, still with the woman who was currently speaking at him albeit a bit impatiently, he found himself panicking. There was a small shriek that he heard, and with one look at the also confused maid, he just realized that it was actually his. It was only then he noticed his slightly wider, yet shorter hands as he slowly inspected it, and with trembling hands he ran his hands along his arms. His mouth was wide agape and eyes widened when he came in contact with the bulge along his arms, another proof that it was truly, not his body to begin with.

With a bewildered expression, he whipped his head to stare at the maid who was already staring at him weirdly. She was about to say something when Hyunjin cut her off by swinging his leg out of the bed, the feeling of the warm rug on the floor would’ve been something he truly adored if it wasn’t for his identity crisis. He could see his defined thighs and was left speechless for a movement before standing up abruptly.

“Your highness, what--”

“Where’s the mirror?” Hyunjin hadn’t intended for his tone to come out as harsh, but he was seconds into fully freaking out so he had hoped for the maid to understand it. “I- I need to see myself right now.”

If she was offended by his tone, she didn’t show any acknowledgement, merely pointing to the huge mirror right on the far right side of the room that he had failed to see before. Hyunjin gulped before nodding, slowly making his way across the rug to see himself. He had no idea if he was prepared to see what he was supposed to see in the mirror, but he basically had no choice but to grit his teeth and push through.

Closing his eyes moments before he could see his reflection, Hyunjin drew out a shaky breath.

_“Okay, it’s fine. You just happen to have nice arms muscle and defined thighs, maybe it’s just because of your constant mixing of the cake’s dough that’s why you have some muscle.”_ He knew he had zero sense whatsoever, but he was desperate to hang onto that thread of hope in order to keep himself sane. _“When you open your eyes, it’s just gonna be you, Hwang Hyunjin, not anyone else, and certainly not the prince himself. Okay. You got this.”_

Hyunjin opened his eyes.

Seo Changbin’s reflection was staring right back at him. And so, completely losing his grip on reality now, he did the first thing people who had just their bodies switched with each other.

Hyunjin screamed.

* * *

Contrary to popular belief, or rather stereotype, Changbin wasn’t one that was sceptical about magic or anything related to that. Magic has always been something that was close to his heart as one of his first friends was actually the kingdom's official magic counselor's son. Growing up, he was no stranger to the stunts his friend has pulled at him or the stunts they both had pulled at each other.

Therefore, when he was awoken one morning with the rapid knocking on his door instead from the sunlight streaming through his windows, he wasn't one to actually panic. Jisung had pulled this kind of stunts on him multiple times, his friend saying that he needed to feel what the hardness of commoners bed feels like because he would be the future king. (it was a lie, jisung was no commoner and his bed was still fluffy, he was only saying that to mess with him)

But when he realized that Jisung’s bed wasn’t supposed to be this hard, and how the rapid knocking of his door wasn’t stopping, unlike the ones he usually heard in Jisung’s room, he was a bit taken aback. Opening his eyes, he took in his surroundings of a small room in the faint light of winter sun rays behind the thick curtains that covered the window. He could barely make out anything, but he figured that there was a desk behind the bed, an opened journal along with a small plate on it. 

Jisung would never let anyone else read his journal, the thing he cherished most must’ve been put inside the safest corner of his bookshelf inside his room, and with the bookshelf missing from this room, the more he realized that it wasn’t Jisung’s body he was switched with. With this information in mind, his sleepy brain was charged into life, panic settled on his bones as he hastily scrambled to the door when the rapid knocking hasn’t stopped.

Changbin opened his door to almost getting hit by the knocking hand, whose owner luckily stopped just a few millimeters away from his face. He was met with the face of a girl, her eyebrows furrowed and lips formed. There was something familiar about her, but he couldn't pinpoint what it was then.

She was wearing a black apron and toque blanche with patches of flour especially seen in the former. Before he could say anything, the girl beat him into it. “Hwang Hyunjin! What took you so long to wake up? We need to open the store in 3 hours and I need to go to the palace to take some winter goods the kingdom will give to us.” She sighed then, “I already made some doughs and I waited for you to wake up but it seemed that you’re too busy dreaming of your prince instead of working.”

If Changbin’s mind were still following the conversation, he would ask for the meaning of the last part, but the prince was already losing his mind over the name that this girl was saying. “H-Hwang Hyunjin? The baker?” He had stuttered. 

The Hwang’s bakery baker that had became the talk of the town over his incredible skill and visual in such a young age, and soon becoming the palace’s favorite baker? The one that Changbin accidentally saw his picture on the newspaper one day and was rendered speechless for a while upon seeing it? 

And from there, Changbin found himself getting curious about him. It wasn’t just his beauty or his skills that got Changbin’s attention, but the interview that he had conducted on that specific newspaper as well. He had mentioned that he wasn’t one to be considered talented in baking when he was a little and was more seen as one “with the nice face” kid, but as he learnt it deeper after his mother’s death, he was slowly falling in love with the act. The baker also mentioned (albeit in a joking tone, as the newspaper had stated) that he had hoped for people to recognize him for his skills rather than just his appearance.

Somehow Changbin resonated with that sentence. He too, had sometimes wanted to be seen as Changbin, and not with his status at the future king, the current prince of the kingdom. But since he knew that it was basically impossible, he didn’t dare to think too much about it. It kind of warmed his heart to know that someone out there was voicing out his thoughts, and he had hoped that the baker would get that recognition that he too, had wanted.

It only dawned upon Changbin that he was talking to the baker’s cousin and colleague, that was also featured on the same newspaper he had read that day. He felt bad for not remembering her along with her name, as he was far too occupied on admiring her cousin instead. He remembered it now, though. 

Also, this baker that got him intrigued so much that he personally asked for cakes to be delivered for him, was someone he got switched with? Changbin had hoped that he wasn’t blushing upon thinking about it, but apparently he was mistaken.

“Yeah, you’re Hwang Hyunjin, the baker? What are you talking about..” Yeji phrased it as if it was a question, seemingly confused. “Are you okay, bro? Your cheeks are red.”

“I-I’m fine!” Changbin squeaked out, and it drew even more confusion from the girl’s face. “Uh, also did you say something about going to the palace?”

“Yeah, I need to get some goods to prepare ourselves for the winter.”

Changbin gulped, “Can I-- Can I go there instead of you?” If he could find Jisung and told him everything, he might’ve been able to switch back to his original form again. Or better, he could find “himself” or rather, this Hwang Hyunjin guy on the palace and they could talk about it.

Also, he might’ve been able to avoid baking today if he go there, not wanting to tarnish Hyunjin’s reputation as a notorious baker with his rusty baking skills. When was the last time he ever went to the kitchen, anyway? Was it when he wanted to make a prank birthday cake filled with wasabi on Jisung’s birthday? It was when he was twelve years old, wasn’t it? Oh, he certainly didn’t want to to be the wobbly card in the bottom to knock the house of cards that was Hyunjin’s career.

Yeji stared at him for a while, eventually rolling her eyes and finally sighed. “I’ve been offering you that from like, a month ago and you always said no because you’re afraid of meeting the prince.” Changbin was left a bit surprised with that, but she shrugged, leaving him no space to ask about it. “You’re very weird today, but I’ll take it as the effect of overwork and call it a day.” 

She turned on her heels and start walking further from him to the stairs. “Okay, you could replace me to go to the palace. You know where to get it, right?” Changbin didn’t know, he was usually the one who gave those goods, not receiving them, but he nodded anyways. “Great. Just say you’re from the Hwangs or-- don’t even bother since they probably know you anyways.” 

Then, Yeji stopped on her heels and looked back on him with worry. “Oh, man. You sure you could ride the horse, though? I don’t want any accidents like before happening to you again.”

Changbin didn’t possibly know what kind of accidents that happened to the baker, but Yeji shouldn’t worry for him as riding a horse was something that every noble should be able to master. “Yeah, don’t worry about it.” He smiled, “Sorry for making you work alone in the bakery, though.”

She waved him off as she walked again. “Don’t mind me. Just be back early if you can.” Although she turned back to look at him again with a smirk when she reached the stairs, “Enjoy your palace tour, maybe you could find the prince while you’re at it.”

Oh, god. 

This wasn’t good for his heart and thought. If this Hwang Hyunjin’s thought about him was actually one of despise and his cousin was just teasing him about it, he didn’t know if he could ever meet him in real life (or even eat his cake afterward! And that was a shame as his cakes were simply heavenly). He imagined Hyunjin waking up to his body and went rampage as he was awake on the body he hated the most.

But also, he thought about it being the other way around. He was quick to shut it out, though with his heart feeling like it wanted to jump out from his chest. He went back to his room (or rather, Hyunjin’s) and immediately saw himself in the mirror on his right. 

Changbin found himself gulping, his pupils dilating as if he has seen the artwork of the museum. There was something about the way Hyunjin was built like he was crafted by the gods, sharp eyes, slightly agape lips and (courtesy to his thoughts) flaming red ears and blush blooming on his face even if he was clad in nothing but a baby blue pajamas that got Changbin to _feel_ things.

He was completely sure that Hyunjin would pass as a prince, if one didn’t know better about him. Changbin looked away from the mirror, steadying his heart as he realized that he actually _could_ make Hyunjin as one. If he wanted to, that is.

Until he shook his head and hit it lightly, disappointed for drowning in his own fantasy. “The hell am I thinking about.” He mumbled, still feeling the blood rushing to his ears.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hmu in [twt](https://twitter.com/sapphirehynbn) or [cc](https://curiouscat.qa/kidoairaku) !


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the wait :( i figured i'm not a fast writer at all therefore it would be impossible for me to update this weekly, so I will probably update it bi-weekly, if possible!   
> don't worry, I'm not going to neglect it :D I badly want to see the two of them figuring out their stuffs, too!
> 
> also this particular chapter isn't beta-ed so if i have any grammar mistake just.. um, pretend it doesn't happen, yeah? enjoy !

The possibility of him couldn’t be switched back lingered in the back of his mind, endless worrying scenes playing behind his eyes like an old movie. But he composed himself from those, taking a deep breath as he thought that it was far too early to conclude everything. Changbin only hoped that he would be able to speak to Hyunjin later and could get them both to work together, assuming that he didn’t hate Changbin or not freaking everyone out at the castle.

He sighed at the thought, pulling the mask even further up to cover his face as he watched the palace getting closer from his position now from the galloping horse. Pulling the reins of the horse, he was able to slow the brown horse that was Hwang’s before entering the busier part of the city. His lips curled upon remembering how Yeji’s mouth was wide agape when he was able to take the horse from the stable with no problem whatsoever and even riding it without the horse going savage. Maybe when everything was over, and if Hyunjin was okay with it, Changbin could give him some horse riding lessons. 

Sighing, Changbin frowned at himself again for thinking too far to the future. He really need to learn not to get too excited over something, especially those concerning people who he has never met before.

Not too long after that, he had arrived in front of the heavily guarded palace gates. He waited for the guards to open the doors for him before realizing that he was actually in Hyunjin’s body, meaning that he needed to climb down from the horse and report to the guard himself. It was a bit awkward for him as he never experienced it and he wondered what were the exact words that he needed to say to them afterwards.

But, he thanked Hyunjin’s popularity as one look from the guard when he took off his mask momentarily was what it took for them to open the gate for him. Changbin awkwardly smiled at them, slightly nodding as he pulled the horse to follow him into the palace. If what Yeji said was true about Hyunjin never going to the palace (because of him?), he realized just how famous the baker’s visual was then.

He was lucky that there was a gardener that guided him and the horse to the place he should’ve queued to get the winter goods, as he was simply clueless once he found himself entering the palace’s garden. As he sheepishly followed her, Changbin made a mental note to pay more attention to how the things worked for commoners in his kingdom, after all, these people couldn’t have a clueless, ignorant king to rule all of them in the future.

Changbin queued on what it seemed to be an endless line of people, sighing as he promised to work on the distribution systems of these winter goods. He had asked the people that queued around him about the thing he hated the most about this “goods sharing” day.

“I never face one, but my mom heard that some people got robbed when they went home with these goods.” A child answered, a frown on his face. 

“Also, it’s tiring to que here for like, a day. I even needed to skip school for this, not that I hated it, but I'd rather skip school for playing rather than waiting here. Especially now that it’s really cold.” This time, it was a girl a few years below him that answered it. “I’m sure it’s tiring for the old people, too.”

The prince thought hard about it, just how far he was from the reality of his own people. He was also angered over the fact that he had never heard about these problems from his subordinates who were supposed to listen to the people. By the time it was his turn to accept the goods, the sun was already slipping through the sky, painting it a hue of dark blue and warm orange, meaning that it has been his ninth hours of waiting. He was lucky he got the chance to sit down once in a while, but he still felt like his legs were about to give up at any moment.

If this was what his people needed to endure almost every year, he truly felt like he was failing as a ruler, even when he was just a prince for now and didn’t hold that much authority to rule the kingdom.

Changbin carried the box filled with foods and warm scarves along the palace’s garden before spotting one of his trustworthy knights who had a tired look painted across his face, sitting on one of the bottom of the short stairs to the palace. He cringed, hoping that Hyunjin wouldn’t make things too hard for the people in the palace. But then again, the poor baker must’ve been so scared upon finding it out, as it wasn’t something that happened to ordinary people every day.

He approached his knight, hoping that he could find Hyunjin near him. “Chan.” He had simply said when he was close enough, and the knight looked up to meet his eyes. 

Changbin saw it in Yeji's eyes that morning too, one of confusion. “Hwang Hyunjin, isn’t it?” Chan stood up, brushing his pants. “What can I help you, sir?”

The prince rolled his eyes, did he not even notice that he had called him by his real name? “Quit the joke, now.” Changbin put the box beside his feet, pulling down his mask. “I’m Changbin.”

Chan’s expression morphed from confusion, before setting out into what it seemed like a relief. It wasn’t rare that Changbin and Jisung switched bodies, and he was the only person who actually knew when the both of them had switched. So this was nothing new to him, except for the fact that it was Changbin’s first time to be switched as someone else other than Jisung. “Oh, your highness.” He heaved a sigh, “That explained everything.”

“Before you ask, no, I still have no idea why and how it happened.” Changbin bit his lip, folding his hand in front of his chest. “I need to ask Jisung about this, where is he?”

His knight let out a chuckle, “He’s off to learn more about witchcraft things with his boyfriend, remember? He’ll be back in two weeks, i think.” 

Chan and Jisung were also the only ones that could speak to him casually, after all, they had grown up together and had accustomed to one another as equals, only saving the honorary titles for the other eyes to see. Or when they wanted to tease him, either way.

Groaning, Changbin cursed himself for forgetting that. How could he ever forget the “quest of finding myself and my true self as a witch!” that Jisung always mentioned to him? Jisung might kick his ass for that, and frankly, he kind of deserved it. "Ah, yeah, I forgot." He tapped his feet impatiently, biting his lip before realizing just how plump it was.

Was it inappropriate for him to bite a lip that was technically his, but not really his, and wondered how it would feel against his own? He immediately let his lips go, feeling ashamed out of a sudden for thinking about it.

Clearing his throat, he continued on, hoping the blush weren't that prominent in his cheeks. It would be hard to explain why he was blushing, even though he knew that Chan would give him zero judgement for whatever he did. He would tease him, though. Relentlessly, even. 

And Changbin didn’t need that, for sure. "Well I guess there's nothing that I can do other than talking to the prince himself, then. where is he now?"

Chan cocked his head to his left, pointing to the private garden in the back of the palace. "Poor guy had a tough day at first, but eventually he kind of pulled through it, even though I sensed that something was off." He patted Changbin's shoulder, a bit surprised to find that Changbin was now taller than him. "Oh, man. How's the weather up there?"

The prince rolled his eyes at his knight's snickering sound. "I'll go talk to him now, I guess. Make sure to cover me." He didn't know why his palms were clammy out of a sudden along with a feeling of having a lump inside his throat. But despite all that, he carried the box of goods and walked to the private garden in which his real body seemed to be in.

Along his short journey, he desperately hoped that Hwang Hyunjin wouldn't hate him, at least.

* * *

He found Hyunjin, or rather, himself, sitting on the bench in front of the fountain with his back against him, his eyes seemed to be looking past the garden. Changbin noticed that he was wearing a far more simple attire than he usually was, but then again he thought that it was because he didn’t have to go anywhere that day. Changbin didn’t recall the prince being there on the goods sharing, even for a moment, an event where he was supposed to be present.

The prince had his share on ethique and anger management classes back then when he was young, but he seemed to not remember anything as he recalled ‘his’ absence at today's event, a scowl on his face. He was quite pissed, knowing that it was the very least a task of a prince that he should fulfill, especially with him knowing what his people has been through.

Changbin wasn’t sure if the anger was directed at him, or Hyunjin who currently resides at his body. Or if it wasn’t anger at all, and just disappointment. 

“Hwang Hyunjin, isn’t it?” He called out to him, voice stern. There was a good ten meters distance between the both of them so he needed to raise his voice a bit, although with his uneasy heart, his tone might’ve sounded a bit harsh.

Hyunjin was visibly startled, his head whipping so fast to find the source of the name he had never been called at least once on that day. His eyes were blown wide, and his mouth was hung open as he stared at his body who was currently setting a box down. When Changbin looked up at him, he needed to hold back his laughter as he found out his startled expression was quite amusing.

He wondered if other people thought the same thing upon seeing him getting shocked. No wonder why Jisung and Chan laughed at him a lot.

“Prince Changbin--ah sorry.” Hyunjin shook his head, correcting himself. “I mean, your highness?”

“Why weren’t you there when they were sharing the winter goods?” Changbin swore that his tone wasn't  _ that  _ accusing, but apparently Hyunjin thought differently as he was seen to cringe a bit. He approached him slowly, “A prince should be able to be there for his people, you know that right?”

Hyunjin’s expression turned sour, his eyebrows furrowed as he huffed. “Excuse me? I woke up to your body this morning, passed out  _ twice _ .” He pressed, eyes narrowing at him. “And obviously has zero knowledge nor guidance to be one, I refused to be there as i don’t want to ruin everything.” He paused a bit to think before correcting himself. “I mean, they also don’t want me to be there in fear of me passing out in front of everyone, so I guess i’m not the one to blame here.”

Changbin tilted his head, stopping on his tracks. He took a deep breath, thinking that he had a point, especially now that he just remembered how Chan said he had a rough time at first. This must’ve been a major shock for him and yet he was still here instead of running away (like he did, but he didn’t want to acknowledge that), so Changbin supposed he needed to appreciate that. He felt bad for accusing him.

“And you obviously didn’t help my cousin in the bakery as well.” Hyunjin sighed, although it was probably more of a slight scoff. “So I guess that’s just fair.”

Ah, that one too. He was absolutely feeling bad for accusing him. 

“Okay, I guess that is fair indeed.” Changbin sighed, his voice coming out a lot more gentle as he resumed his intention on approaching him. “Well, we have far more import--”

He was cut by the sudden heaviness inside his chest, his head spinning as he was forced to shut his eyes because of the shock. Changbin kneeled to the ground, his hand clutching onto his shirt and cracking one eye open, he could see Hyunjin already falling down onto the grass with his hand stretched out. They shared a panicked glance before Changbin’s knees gave up on him, his vision turning black.

As fast as the pain overtook his body, the pain vanished almost as suddenly. 

Changbin blinked, groaning. He rolled his body so his back was on the ground, looking at the dark blue part of the winter sky. It was about to be dark soon and he thought that he needed to go back to the bakery as soon as possible, not wanting to spend a night on the road alone by himself. 

He got up, head still thumping a bit as he stared at Hyunjin who was still laying down, staring at him with absolute shock as he looked up from his spot. Changbin briefly wondered what was wrong before realizing that he was actually staring at Hyunjin’s body.

Which meant that he was back on his own from again.

“We switched back?” Changbin whispered, inspecting his hands before looking at Hyunjin expectantly, a wide grin on his face. He stepped closer at him, reaching out a hand for the baker to take before having his grin melted off from his face.

If he had seen himself in Hyunjin form that morning in the mirror and was rendered speechless over his beauty, Changbin was flabbergasted now. He had Hyunjin laying down on the grass in front of him, his pupils blown wide and his plump lips slightly ajar as he stared up at the prince. The hair tie that kept his hair up in a man bun was now laying beside him, possibly in accident from the fall he had, caused his blond locks to sprawl under his head like some kind of makeshift halo.

Hyunjin’s chest rose and fell down rapidly as they both stared at one another, no sounds nor movement accompanying it. That was until Hyunjin had wet his lips and got Changbin’s gaze transfixed into his movement before moving back up to his eyes once he was done. There was a familiar, yet at the same time still too foreign to decipher, glint on his eyes; The prince swallowed, finding the air to be a bit warm despite it being an early winter. 

And ever so slowly, Hyunjin was smiling at him. A small, almost shy smile was curved on his lips as he took Changbin’s hand who was far too dumbfounded to function, but still sober enough to help him back to his feet.

His brain failed to process any kind of coherent words afterwards, only coming back to earth when Hyunjin snapped his fingers. “Huh?” Changbin replied, groggily.

“I said, yeah, we switched back.” There was an amused smile on Hyunjin’s face, but as soon as Changbin looked up to meet his gaze, he quickly looked away. “I’m glad we did.”

“Me too.”

They were quiet again afterwards, not staring at one another as they both found the fountain to be a lot more interesting than the person beside them. Changbin sighed, wondering about just how long they would continue the obviously awkward silence like they just hadn't switched bodies for a day before he coughed, catching the attention of Hyunjin. He figured since he was the one that at least had an experience with body switching, he owed him an explanation. Well, as best as he could with his limited knowledge about the magic.

“I’ll take it as your first time switching bodies?” Changbin asked, still staring at the fountain. There was a chapped paint in the middle of it, he better asked someone to fix it later.

He saw Hyunjin nodded from his peripheral vision, “Yeah, that’s why I freaked out so bad this morning. I never even thought it was possible.” the baker bit his lip, possibly thinking and it took all the willpower of Changbin to not turn his head so he could feast on the view freely. “Is this… a normal occurrence for you, your highness?”

Changbin shrugged, “Not exactly normal, but my friend usually pulled off this kind of thing on me and we would switch bodies for a while, but I never had it happened before with a stranger.” He clicked his tongue, smiling teasingly at Hyunjin. “Well, a stranger who bakes me cakes for once every two weeks, that is."

Hyunjin giggled at that, and uh oh, Changbin's heart did a funny thing like skipping over a few beats.

"It was an experience, indeed." Hyunjin smiled, looking at him. "I never know that I would be able to live in the palace and live up my childhood dream, well, kind of, but here we are."

It would be a lie if Changbin had said that it didn't pique his curiosity, but he didn't want to prod further, as he thought that childhood dream was such a sensitive and private thing to be talked about. So he simply nodded, "Well, uhh." Changbin coughed, finally looking at the taller man who was watching him with curious eyes. "I guess that's it? I'll see you around afterwards." He offered him his hand to shake.

Changbin desperately wanted this to not be over, wanted to know him a lot better, wanted to spend more time with the baker he was attracted to, even if the only thing they're going to do was silently finding new things to be interested in the fountain. Just being by the baker’s side was enough for him, but it wasn't fair for Hyunjin if he just decided things on his own, and despite everything, he was still the prince and Hyunjin was his people.

And a prince should know better than to prioritize his wants over his people's need.

Hyunjin momentarily stared at the hand before shaking it, albeit unsurely. "Oh, yeah. Sure, your highness." He gave him a polite smile, "You know how to contact me, so, yeah."

All of this was so awkward, their words, them staring at one another, but their hands are still clasped to one another and Changbin needed to tame down his need to draw circles over Hyunjin's palm.

Changbin fake coughed in order to have a reason to retract his hand, so Hyunjin wouldn’t be able to feel his rapid pulse on his wrist. “Right, see you around.” He felt stupid for repeating his words, but Changbin couldn’t think of anything else other than Hyunjin and his giggle, along his large palm that he wanted to hold longer. It was getting dangerous, him fantasizing over a man who probably thought of Changbin as a weird, childish prince who didn’t mind switching bodies with his friend in the regular. Changbin needed to clear his head, and for that to happen, he needed to get away from Hyunjin as fast as possible.

Hyunjin’s expression fell for a moment, a moment so short Changbin thought that he was hallucinating it, before politely smiling at him, tight lipped. It didn’t reach his eyes, and yet, Changbin still thought that he was still the most beautiful man he had ever laid his eyes on. He barely registered Hyunjin saying, “Thank you, your highness.” and turned around to leave him.

Changbin watched Hyunjin’s back getting farther before sighing, thinking that he desperately needed to clear his head. He’d tell Chan to escort him to his room afterwards so he could talk to his friend about his feelings, and probably apologizing formally through a letter to the bakery in the morning. He had caused enough ruckus--

His breath caught on his throat, and suddenly he was on his knees again, clutching his neck as he desperately tried to breathe. The pounding on his head returned, and with one blurry look at Hyunjin’s kneeling figure, he had a feeling that they weren’t going to get away with this so easily.

And in that spur of a moment before he blacked out, all Changbin could think of was that he would need to meet Hyunjin a lot more often in the future because of that, and how he liked it.

The ‘prince’ side inside of him disagreed, but his mind immediately shut down, leaving him no time to listen to it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> p.s: i hope you guys won't mind the shorter updates :( and i hope i didn't disappoint ???
> 
> hmu in both [twt](https://twitter.com/sapphirehynbn) or [cc](https://curiouscat.qa/kidoairaku) :D
> 
> i'll see you soon!


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